After almost six months, the Himachal Pradesh government has allowed unrestricted movement of people in the hill state as per the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ guidelines, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Thursday.
Speaking in the state assembly, the chief minister said the state Cabinet on Tuesday decided to open the interstate movement as all other states were already doing so. We had continued restrictions till now just for contact-tracing in case any person tests positive, he said, adding that people, especially patients and labourers, have faced a lot of difficulty due to restrictions on movement. Accordingly, the unrestricted movement has been restored, he added.
The unrestricted movement was allowed on the MHA guidelines to spur economic activities, the chief minister said. He further said as per ICMR guidelines, those corona patients would not be tested again if they have remained in isolation for ten days without any symptoms for the last three days. Such people will be asked to remain in further isolation at home for a week, he added. Expressing concern over increasing corona cases, especially during the last 10-15 days, he said the government is fully prepared to provide treatment to corona patients. The CM said currently a total of 1,655 corona patients -- both asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic -- are in home isolation which amounts to 45 percent of current active cases in the state.
Justifying the Cabinet's decision of home isolation of corona patients, Thakur said as many as 95,000 corona patients were cured of the virus in Delhi. Thakur urged legislators to make the general public aware of the home-isolation for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients. The CM further stated that five makeshift hospitals, each of 50-bed capacity, in Shimla, Tanda, Nahan, Una and Nalagarh respectively, in the next 15 days.
OPENING OF BARS ALLOWED
The Himachal government has allowed opening of bars in the state from 15 September onwards, a statement said here. All the norms and Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) specified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs have to be followed properly. As per the order, no liquor will be sold without social distancing and they will have to keep sanitizers. Provision for thermal scanning, hand wash and sanitizer would be made at all entry points besides ensuring regular health checkups of all the staff to monitor the ILI symptoms.